Prologue-Shadows of The Dragon
by ZeroStealth 117
Summary: His journey was long and painful. He woke up nearly everyday, often in months in a row, to bathe in war and blood. Many called him a savage while his friends knew better. A True Warrior whose righteous wrath often in the likeliness of a fiery dragon leaves behind oceans of his dead enemy. Now the war is coming to a close. His end nears which is also his new beginning. Now, Onward!


Greetings my fellow readers. This is my project I have been inspired to start for quite some time and I desire to try my hand.

I need you all to understand that I am certainly not the best, nor one of great experience. I have had my own failed attempts. This one I shall see it through regardless. I also need you all to know that I will not be updating or reloading frequently due to my current occupations. Do not expect updates even once a month. You get them when you get them.

This will also serve as to test the waters should this idea even be viable to pursuit. Henceforth please leave valid feedback for my Prologue. All nonsense will be deleted.

UPDATE 1: I will state this now, this Prologue is meant to be one chapter. That's why the status is complete and not in-progress. For those who wish to see the story unfold the moment I post the first chapter I want you to click FOLLOW and also to post you feedback. When I have posted the first chapter of the new story I will make an update on this Prologue detailing the existence of the new story. I will also not be relying on anyone for supplying me with any more original characters. Should your post have such material, it shall be deleted. Unless I ask for suggestions for OCs, or whatever else I may specify, don't take up the space for feedback. I will also state this now: **I will NOT eliminate the option to ask help from a BetaReader. Should any of you, whom are BetaReaders, desire to aid me then send me a PM and I _will _reply with due haste. I _do _have time to take out of my day for that.**

To not update with new chapters or rewrites, corrections, ect is one thing. Ignoring a PM indicates poor communication which I will never stand for. Reading reviews I will be eager to so don't think I won't read what you say...even if it turns out to be nonsense. XD If you intend to troll...make it funny at least =3.

UPDATE 2: I have decided to add an additional chapter which is now in the works. I'll jump for joy if it's posted soon.

UPDATE 3: I have made some revisions to this chapter...and a new addition

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Prologue: Shadows of The Dragon

**The End Renews The Beginning**

_It all began over eighty years ago. A young boy, the only superhuman in existence of his world, became the ultimate warrior. For all his strength he would come to know better than to rely on himself. For it is as Sun Tzu said, "He who protects all protects nothing," and so he recruited, trained, led, and grew a grand military force to originally shield Earth and later to act as the vanguard for all life. His unique power that willed his technological armor into existence beginning as a mere hologram gave his people the material to work with. Reverse engineering his and the enemy's technology gave them the tools to fight back. The greatest leaps in science were equaled in their feats of understanding. They threw away their money. They shed their masks that covered their hearts. They grew to respect and later love each other in brotherhood and sisterhood. Bonds forged by war, death, and life. Their friendship was tested, some fell, and those who knew right persevered and survived. They knew their numbers were limited so they created AI warriors. They all knew what was committed. Out of necessity, some reasoned. This is not right, some others reasoned. But the Leader spoke and declared the truth as well as what is right. "We created life and we WILL respect and treat it no different than we do each other! Welcome our new friends to our fight. This chapter in our lives we have brought you in to supplement our forces and take the blows for some of us; of this I cannot lie. All I ask is that you will listen to me, us, and each other as we all will do for you. Just as God respects our free will we shall do the same." And so they marched forward together. His wrath often taking the shape and form of a large, black dragon and just as often in blazing fire._

"Let's move out! Got them purple fucks approximately five clicks North and it's gonna take at least an hour to get to the front." All the warriors acknowledged the command. Men and women of the second generation now following the supposedly ageless Leader of their parents. Led into war, baptism by fire, to hunt and eliminate the remnants of the purple scourge. The AI warriors now long gone.

"How many of them dimensional pocket demons do ya think they got hiding up their asses sir?" One woman asked their Leader.

"One is enough Alice."

They trekked the alien mountain scape, the fields of foreign rocks and waters, and the seas of violet grass. They wore faces of determination. The Leader's face was one of stoic finality. A sage-like calm which is balanced in contrast by an all encompassing blazing wrath. This tranquil fury defined him. His indomitable will has seen him through his many trials, triumphs and failures. Empowered by virtue and actualized as his fury. His purpose and goal clear as the sun shining in a cloudless sky. He marched onwards with this fellow warriors at his side and behind him. They all know what must be done and the price to pay.

A battle cry started. A voice, deep in the gut and strong in the throat, rang loud like a great flag waving to rally. "There shall be JUSTICE!" And all raised their voices and said, "Hoorah!"

"There shall be BLOOD!" "Hoorah!"

"The threat to all life, both known and unknown to us-SHALL FALL!" "Hoorah!" They all replied with more gusto.

Many worlds will remain barren. Nobody will know the saviors that amassed in anonymity. Those who sacrificed two generations. The very few will recall only shreds of the grouped identity of the heroes dead and gone and their Leader clad in death's best black. His face darkened to all to protect and shield not just himself, but the children he now leads. However, it was known only to the warrior children, now grown, that they will die. They were instilled the best of humanity. Honesty, integrity, kindness, clearly defined justice though blind, the strength to show mercy, among all other values and virtues. They wore death's best black along with their Leader.

Money is unknown to them.

Rank does not have meaning.

Fame is only a by-product which is never indulged.

They associated wealth with their health. With the strength and quantity of their kin. The bonds of friendship were at their strongest. The last of the Human race shined like the greatest star blazing until the end. They marched with only the best of what makes a man, a man and a woman, a woman.

They didn't get bogged down on the subject of Gender for they have figured it out and are now above that rut.

Compassion, understanding, and action were prioritized.

They weren't soldiers who were paid. They were True Warriors. They knew warfare and had the character to see and correct wrong. Respect, honor, justice, mercy, love, repentance, and all others they drilled into themselves through the unrelenting crucible they were thrust into and marched out of only to dust off their guns and charge right back in ready for more.

They all had their roles and knew them like the backs of their hands and then some.

Status meant nothing without the merit that was earned through virtue, skill, experience and will.

They served, obeyed, lived, and died together.

There wouldn't be enough medals to award them...

They wouldn't accept them anyway...

"Into the ground we will crush them! Into the sun THEY SHALL BURN!" "HOORAH!"

So they marched on with their tanks, guns, aircraft, and each other. Their warships in the vacuum of space already obliterated as well as their enemy's space crafts.

Black conceals. Black blends. Black holds many secrets. Black has also reaped and sowed. Black has shielded them and protected their identities. No indication of rank, status, prestige, or standing. What would give one away was their gait. The walk of a soldier of peace with the arts of killing. Their thousand-year stare watching you with the sharp eyes of an eagle while they already know one-hundred-and-one ways to kill you in ten seconds.

Now you put them all together, there is a sea of black death. And you can't tell who's better by their walk for they all step the same.

It is their Leader that always stands out. His hair like a lion's mane has always been easily recognized. Tall, blades of black hair curved forward as if to seek the enemy and impale. Red eyes of bright fire speak experience, the primal instinct to kill, and an uncommon intelligence. A man of eighty years who knew he must master all he can or else he will die and everything will perish in the twisted song that the enemy sang. Wisdom hid behind the bloody eyes as well as his Catholic teachings.

There is one thing that truly pulled him out of the lows he faced.

He always remembered what he learned. He never forgot the truth, the right, what must be done. Being logical, logic indicated it can hinder him like a backseat driver. One wing isn't enough to fly. One lung is only enough. One normal human can't hold out forever. He understood. Never forget God. Never forget your friends. Never forget what you can do. Always remember to accept help regardless of his power for he sorely needed it. Strength in numbers for he is only one. His power, though great, is still not enough.

He will never forget.

_...he faced the demon worm..._

_...they all died to save him and he knew not the other reason why..._

_...the product of a crime against life pursued him and drove him to the brink of death..._

So when it came time to end a war, to stop the enemy that plagued many realities for eons, the price was paid.

The only way to defeat the monsters was to endure. Try as he might...the superhuman couldn't outright kill it. He had to endure five days of fighting. Laws of physics obeyed and discarded in the next instant. His strongest defenses and attacks made no difference. This monster has no name. It simply exists in between the fabrics of other realities simply existing. The enemy came, the Kirzan, perverted the creature and turned it into their last ditch attempt to somehow have a gratifying pyrrhic victory from the grave should they ever fall. Such a vain species, the Kirzan, and they existed long enough to prepare for the widest range of scenarios.

So when it came time to fight the demon worm...this single superhuman, this warrior, this seemingly animalistic Catholic, the Leader will soon find his own end.

He was called many things but only a few stuck.

_The Warfighter..._

_The Warrior..._

_The Blackened One..._

_"I'm honored, and humbled, to be called your Leader! SEMPER FIDELIS!" This was one of his most treasured memories. Both generations praised him and he returned the loyalty seven-fold as the bonds between them grew and became stronger._

_Time has never chosen sides..._

Now the inhabitants look up in shock and awe as a portal of immense size instantly opens wide. Thick, grey tendrils of wind spiral from its mouth. The colors of the visible spectrum rapidly fluctuate.

_Time never will._

The Leader and the beast erupt from the portal as a blast of wind follows in their wake and the portal closes in the same manner.

"RAINBOW DASH LOOK! THE SKY!" Somepony cried out alerting the pegasus to the UFOs. She quickly dashed aside as the battle shot downwards from the sky toward the home of ponies below.

_A three tailed, tri-jawed maw, bulbous reptile with spikes and plates soared downwards from the sky. Along with it was a man shining in glorious white fire and light with unspeakable rage etched on his face. His war cry, an inhuman shriek or yell as some say, filled the sky._

His end now led to a new beginning in a different world. This monster's final trick was as such: open a portal leading to any reality in hopes to gain an advantage; random selection. They entered this reality at dusk. The Leader steeled his will for he knew it will be the longest night of his life. He will fight from dusk until dawn. He tapped into the deepest wells of his power. He summoned all his energy to the surface. He had images of the past eighty years; the death of many and the lost lives to never be lived. It was high time he pulled all the stops.

He stopped his movement in the sky far above Ponyville. He gathered everything of his being...and the earth shook! Now he lit up the sky as tendrils of gold light rose up and white fire blazed from his person. His eye sockets now emitted light just as Twilight Sparkle did the first time she defeated Nightmare Moon...

...and from his mouth his inhuman warcry roared for miles. He charged at the beast, still recoiling from the past moment, and rammed into the bulging gut! A sickening wail was heard and more was sure to follow. His assault was relentless. Each blow was followed with another and faster than anyone could hope to follow. His movements were exact. Execution was perfect in each successful hit. He must not relent for the moment he does the monster will return the pain in kind and just as swiftly. He must be unpredictable and he must always be one step ahead.

All have marveled at his fighting prowess as the ponies do now. Truly he is an ultimate fighter! But they knew not how long he had to perfect his many lethal arts.

_As they clashed again in the air above the humble town, the inhabitants couldn't help but feel a sort of righteousness swell in themselves and felt its origin was from the man. Of course some doubted it like one would as a superstition._

The monster only lived to destroy him. It defied all understanding but one thing was clear. Only one way to achieve absolute victory over this creature: Endure, Overcome, and Survive. This was the fifth day and this fight was for the win. Do or die! Winner takes all including the life of the loser!

And so the fight took place above Ponyville. Occasionally the monster would seek to use the ground, but the Leader would force it back into the sky in his best attempts to shield the residents.

Everypony hid in their houses. But the Mane Six felt called to action. They saw the Leader's efforts to keep the fight away from Ponyville as much as he could; he struggled greatly. He was fighting tooth and nail with the beast. Twilight Sparkle knew what to do in order to, what she hoped, stop the monster. So she dashed from cover to cover and over great stretches to gather her friends. They all felt the familiar spark and understood what must be done.

They needed to use their innate powers to banish the ugly beast to save Ponyville and the mysterious warfighter.

They congregated and spoke among themselves while they watched and waited for the best opportunity to strike. When it's above the tallest building? Or when the beast descends to the ground?

Sure enough the beast dragged The Blackened One to the ground.

_They know not what forces have come into their reality..._

The Mane Six gathered behind the beast, summoned their power, and the violet mare unleashed her most potent blast of power towards the beast.

They wanted to banish it. They wanted to avoid killing. They achieved neither of these two objectives.

_This can be known that, though he is again challenged and pushed beyond his limits, the challenges he will face in this world will truly strip him bare for all to see. He will be thrusted into such situations that will make him crumble. _

_He knows many lessons..._

_Now in these times to come he will face his most gargantuan test of his life. He will either break or survive._

_He must now take all his lessons to heart. He must learn what is truly within his own heart. For having only a soul and no heart is not enough._

_He knows his soul, but not his heart very well. Odd. You would think a man such as him would know what's in his own heart._

_Oh well. God has a plan. After all, the greatest threat to all life isn't the Kirzan. It's himself._

_The ultimate trial for him lies in this new world. He is stuck in this world with no way to go back or escape. He must survive and thrive or else he will undo eighty years of war._

_Such is his fate..._

_The Shadows of the Dragon, covered in white fire empowered by virtue and indomitable will to live to protect, have foreshadowed many worlds. The last shadow stops in this world in the land of Equestria._

They watched the beast spin around and lunge at them. It's fleshy three jaws opened revealing rows and rows of serrated teeth. Fear gripped them, yet they didn't not die. The Leader appeared in front of them holding a red glowing barrier and said, "Thank you for whatever you did! It's weakened now, now RUN!" All while he spoke, cracks quickly formed. As he finished speaking the beast swallowed him and in the next instant he bursts from the beast's right side in a shower of purple blood. He grabs the creature's torn flesh and flings it upwards toward the night sky again.

_He must take all his lessons to heart._

_He must never forget, lest he be lost and never to be found again._

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Testament to Fortune, First Verse

_**O Fortuna, thy hand is covered in shadows!**_

_**Will my wolves howl in remembrance?**_

_**Will my doves still bear hope?**_

_**Or will your wind howl at the mountain?**_

_**Will your cruel waters erode his fortitude of stone?**_

_**Or will you seek the core of the foundation and melt?**_

_**Surely you know the Black Wall. Few have seen its color and fewer have tasted the cold stone. None know how deep The Wall goes.**_

_**Surely you know the price to pay for such a feat.**_

_**O Fortuna, thy hand is covered in shadows...and I see the future reflected in the domes of my eyes.**_

_**I wept.**_

_**I fell to my knees.**_

_**I clutched at my chest.**_

_**I reached for my heart that left me.**_

_**I hid within the darkest corners only to find shreds of memories.**_

_**I don't fear pain.**_

_**I fear others' pain.**_


End file.
